Rotary recording medium reproducing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A rotary recording medium reproducing apparatus reproduces a rotary recording medium accommodated within a case. The case comprises a jacket provided with a space for accommodating the rotary recording medium and an opening for allowing the rotary recording medium to go in and out of the jacket, and a lid member inserted through the opening of the jacket for closing the opening of the jacket. The rotary recording medium reproducing apparatus comprises a lid member locking and holding mechanism provided at an innermost part of the reproducing apparatus, for locking and leaving the lid member inside the reproducing apparatus when the case is inserted into the reproducing apparatus, and for releasing the lock with respect to the lid member when an empty jacket is inserted into the reproducing apparatus, a lid member connection releasing mechanism for releasing connection of the lid member with respect to the jacket when the case is inserted into and then pulled out from the reproducing apparatus, and for connecting the lid member to the empty jacket when the jacket is inserted into and then pulled out from the reproducing apparatus, a lid member push-back mechanism for pushing back the lid member released from locking in a direction approaching the empty jacket which is inserted, interrelatedly with the lock releasing operation of the lid member locking and holding mechanism, and a jacket pull-out preventing mechanism provided interrelatedly with the lid member push-back mechanism, for permitting the jacket to the pulled out when the lid member is pushed back to connect with the jacket, and preventing the jacket from being pulled out in a state where the lid member is not connected to the jacket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to rotary recording medium reproducingapparatuses capable of placing and leaving a rotary recording medium ina state possible for reproduction within the rotary recording mediumreproducing apparatus when a jacket (disc case) having a lid foraccommodating the rotary recording medium therein is inserted into andthen pulled out from within the rotary recording medium reproducingapparatus, and also capable of incasing the rotary recording mediumwithin the jacket so that the rotary recording medium can be obtainedoutside the rotary recording medium reproducing apparatus together withthe jacket, when the empty jacket is inserted into and then pulled outfrom within the reproducing apparatus. The present invention further andespecially relates to the above type of a rotary recording mediumreproducing apparatus constructed so that the jacket cannot be pulledout of the reproducing apparatus unless a lid member connects to thejacket, to achieve reliable operation of incasing and recovering therotary recording medium with respect to the jacket.

Conventionally, in an apparatus for reproducing a rotary recordingmedium (referring to video disc, PCM audio disc, and the like, andhereinafter simply referred to as a disc), there are types ofapparatuses in which a disc is reproduced when the disc is loaded uponholding and placing of the disc within the reproducing apparatus, byinserting into and then pulling out a disc case which has a lid andaccommodates a disc therein, from within the reproducing apparatus.

As a conventional apparatus of this type, a reproducing apparatus wasproposed in a U.S. patent application Ser. No. 231,868 filed Feb. 5,1981, entitled "DISC-SHAPED RECORDING MEDIUM REPRODUCING APPARATUS" inwhich the assignee is the same as that of the present application. Thispreviously proposed reproducing apparatus operates together with a disccase comprising a jacket which has a space for accommodating a disc andan opening for allowing the disc to go in and out of the jacket, and alid member inserted through the opening of the jacket for closing theopening of the jacket, where the reproducing apparatus comprises aninserting opening through which the case is inserted, a turntable forrotating the disc, lock releasing means provided at an innermost part onthe opposite side from the inserting opening with respect to theturntable, for releasing locking of the lid member to the jacket,holding means also provided at the innermost part, for holding the lidmember which is set free from the connection with respect to the jacket,lowering and raising means for lowering the disc to a position where thedisc is placed on the turntable from a holding position where the discis held by the holding means upon starting of the reproduction andraising the disc to the holding position from the turntable uponfinishing or discontinuing of the reproduction, a reproducing transducerfor reproducing the disc placed on the turntable, and moving means formoving the reproducing transducer from a waiting position to areproducing position with respect to the disc.

In the above reproducing apparatus, when an empty jacket is insertedinto the reproducing apparatus to recover the disc inside the jacket,the lid member connection releasing means and the lid member holdingmeans are respectively restored to their original states, and the lidmember is released from the holding state to be connected to the jacket.

In this reproducing apparatus, the lid member holding means is adaptedto operate when pushed by the front of the lid member, to hold the lidmember when the disc case is inserted into the apparatus. This lidmember holding means is also adapted to operate when pushed by the lidmember which is held within the apparatus, to release the holding of thelid member when the empty jacket is inserted into the same apparatus.That is, noting the insertion position of the jacket with respect to thereproducing apparatus, the final insertion position upon holding of thelid member and the final insertion position upon releasing the holdingof the lid member, are substantially the same position. Accordingly,referring to the connection operation of the lid member to the jacketupon recovering of the disc, when the jacket is pulled backwards afterthe jacket is inserted into the apparatus to reach the same position asin the case of a disc loading mode, the lid member follows the jacketdue to the action of a spring and becomes connected to the jacket.

Moreover, there are cases where an operation is performed to insert thejacket into the final position and then pull out the jacket in a rapidmanner, upon recovering of the disc within the jacket. When the jacketis pulled out rapidly, the speed with which the jacket is pulled out mayexceed the speed with which the lid member is pushed back by the spring.In this case, the lid member cannot follow the movement of the jacket,and only the jacket is pulled out from the reproducing apparatus withoutbeing connected to the lid member. Accordingly the disc cannot berecovered within the jacket in this case.

That is, in the conventional reproducing apparatus, there was adisadvantage in that the disc cannot be recovered within the jacket,when the operation to recover the disc from the reproducing apparatus isperformed in a rapid manner.

In order to solve the above described problems, a new reproducingapparatus was proposed in a U.S. patent application filed Mar. 11, 1982,entitled "ROTARY RECORDING MEDIUM REPRODUCING APPARATUS" in which theassignee is the same as that of the present application. In thisproposed reproducing apparatus, in addition to the constituting elementsof the above described reproducing apparatus, the reproducing apparatuscomprises means for releasing the holding with respect to the lid memberwithin the reproducing apparatus at the point when the empty jacket isinserted into a halfway position within the reproducing apparatus, meansfor pushing back the lid member relesed from the holding in a directionso as to close upon the empty jacket which is being inserted, and meansfor limiting the final inserting position of the empty jacket in thereproducing apparatus to a position between the above halfway positionand the position where the means for releasing the engagement betweenthe lid member and the jacket operates. In this proposed reproducingapparatus, the lid member is released of the holding and is pushed back,as the empty jacket exceeds the halfway position to reach the finalinserting position. At the point where the jacket is inserted into thefinal inserting position, the lid member is already in engagement withthe jacket. Accordingly, even if the jacket is pulled out of thereproducing apparatus in an exceedingly fast manner, the lid memberconnects to the jacket, and the lid member can be obtained outside thereproducing apparatus together with the jacket. Therefore, compared tothe previously proposed reproducing apparatus, this reproducingapparatus provides more reliable and positive operation of incasing andrecovering the disc with respect to the jacket.

However, even in this reproducing apparatus, if the empty jacket isinserted into a position exceeding the halfway position but not reachingthe final inserting position in the reproducing apparatus, and thenpulled out in an exceedingly fast manner, the jacket may be pulled outbefore the lid member which is pushed back engages with the jacket.Thus, only the jacket may be pulled out in this case, and there was adisadvantage in that an accident may occur in which the disc is notrecovered. Moreover, when only the jacket is pulled out in the abovecase, the lid member will fall into the innermost part of thereproducing apparatus because the holding with respect to the lid memberis released. Hence, when the lid member falls into the reproducingapparatus, the disc cannot be recovered even if the empty jacket isinserted into the reproducing apparatus again. The reproducing apparatuscan only be restored to the normal state by removing a top plate of thereproducing apparatus, which requires the service of a repairman.Therefore, the above kind of accident should never occur in thereproducing apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to providea novel and useful rotary recording medium reproducing apparatus inwhich the above described problems have been overcome.

Another and more specific object of the present invention is to providea rotary recording medium reproducing apparatus constructed so that,when an operation is performed in which a jacket is inserted into andthen pulled out of the reproducing apparatus to recover a rotaryrecording medium inside the reproducing apparatus, the jacket isprevented from being pulled out until a lid member which is pushedengages with the jacket if the inserted jacket exceeds a position wherethe holding with respect to the lid member is released, and the jacketcan be pulled out of the reproducing apparatus in a state connected tothe lid member. According to the reproducing apparatus of the presentinvention, the jacket cannot be pulled out of the reproducing apparatusunless the lid member becomes connected to the jacket, when recoveringthe rotary recording medium inside the reproducing apparatus. Thus, thejacket is always pulled out of the reproducing apparatus in a stateconnected to the lid member, to ensure positive recovery of the rotaryrecording medium. Accidents in which the rotary recording medium cannotbe recovered, is accordingly prevented from occurring.

Other objects and further features of the present invention will beapparent from the following detailed description when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, with a part cut away and disassembled,showing an example of a disc case which operates together with a rotaryrecording medium reproducing apparatus according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the inner construction of an embodiment ofa rotary recording medium reproducing apparatus according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view, with a part cut away, showing an operationcontrol mechanism which constitutes an essential part of the apparatusaccording to the present invention shown in FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4A, 5A, 6A, 7A, and 8A are side views, with a part in crosssection, respectively showing the operation control mechanism in a statebefore disc loading, in a state where the disc is loaded, in a statewhere the jacket is inserted for recovering the disc, in a state wherethe jacket is inserted into the final inserting position, and in a statewhere the pushing back with respect to the lid member is completed;

FIGS. 4B, 5B, 6B, 7B, and 8B are plan views, with a part in crosssection, respectively showing relationships between a connectionreleasing claw and a lid plate, in states corresponding to the statesshown in FIGS. 4A, 5A, 6A, 7A, and 8A;

FIGS. 9A, 10A, and 11A are side views, with a part in cross section,respectively showing an operation control mechanism in a state where thejacket is inserted into an innermost part of the reproducing apparatusin order to recover the disc, in an initial state where the pushing backwith respect to the lid member is started, and in a state where thejacket is pulled out in an exceedingly fast manner without the lidmember being connected thereto but the jacket is restricted from beingpulled out;

FIGS. 9B, 10B, and 11B are plan views, with a part in cross section,respectively showing relationships between the connection releasing clawand a lid plate, in states corresponding to the states shown in FIGS.9A, 10A, and 11A;

FIGS. 12A and 12B are plan views respectively showing relationshipsbetween a lock lever and a pin, upon disc loading mode and discrecovering mode; and

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing jacket insertion and extractionloci upon disc loading operation and disc recovering operation, incomparison with each other.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In FIG. 1, a disc case 10 comprises a jacket 11 and a lid plate 12. Thejacket 11 is assembled from a pair of jacket halves 13 and 13, andcomprises a flat cavity or space 14 therein. An opening 23 is providedon one side of the jacket 11, and the space 14 accommodates a disc 15.The lid plate 12 comprises a plate-shaped main lid body 16, and a rimportion 17 formed unitarily at the front edge of the main lid body 16. Apair of engaging arms 18 are formed on both sides of the main lid body16. The main lid body 16 of the lid plate 12 is inserted into apredetermined position within the jacket 11. Moreover, projections 19 ofthe engaging arms 18 engage into depressions 20, and thus, the lid plate12 connects with the jacket 11.

As shown in FIG. 2, a reproducing apparatus 30 substantially comprises ajacket opening enlarging mechanism 31, a turntable 32 for rotating thedisc 15 placed thereon, a disc clamping mechanism 33 for clamping thedisc 15, a lid plate locking and holding mechanisms 34 and 34A forlocking and holding the lid plate 12 upon disc loading operation and forreleasing the locking and holding of the lid plate 12 upon recoveringthe disc, lid plate connection releasing mechanisms 35 and 35A forreleasing the connection of the lid plate 12 with respect to the jacket11 upon disc loading operation, and the like.

The jacket opening enlarging mechanism 31 comprises upper and lowerbeams 36 and 37 extending in the directions of arrows Y1 and Y2, and thesupporting members (sliders) 40 and 41 which are respectively slidablyinserted into guide rails 38 and 39, to support both ends of therespective beams 36 and 37. The jacket opening enlarging mechanism 31 isguided by the guide rails 38 and 39, and moves between an innermost partof the reproducing apparatus 30 and a disc case inserting opening 59provided at the frame of the reproducing apparatus 30, in the directionsof arrows X1 and X2.

A reproducing transducer 42 comprises a pickup device 45, a resonator 46and the like, and is mounted to a carriage 47. The carriage 47 istransferred in the directions of the arrows Y1 and Y2 by means of atransferring mechanism, in a state where rollers provided on thecarriage 47 roll along rails 49a and 49b respectively provided on achassis 48.

The disc clamping mechanism 33 is provided at the inner part of thereproducing apparatus 30 on the opposite side of the inserting opening59, and comprises a pair of upper and lower holing fingers 50 and 51.

Upon reproduction of the disc 15, the disc case 10 is inserted throughthe inserting opening 59 of the reproducing apparatus 30, by insertingthe disc case 10 with the side of the lid plate 12 into the direction ofthe arrow X1. When the jacket opening enlarging mechanism 31 is pushedand moved in the direction of the arrow X1 by the disc case 10, theupper and lower beams 36 and 37 rotate angularly, and enlarging fingersthus respectively move in directions so as to mutually separate fromeach other. Accordingly, the front part of the upper and lower jackethalves 13 is enlarged upwards and downwards, to enlarge the opening 23of the jacket 11.

When the disc case 10 is inserted into the innermost part of thereproducing apparatus 30 together with the enlarging mechanism 31through the upper side of the turntable 32, the upper and lower holdingfingers 50 and 51 respectively hold a groove guard 15a of the disc 15.

Accompanied by the insertion of the disc case 10, locking fingers 52 and52A relatively enter inside L-shaped cutouts 22 of the lid plate 12, andthe rim portion 17 accordingly pushes contact fingers 53 and 53A. Whenthe contact fingers 53 and 53A are pushed by the lid plate 12, left andright main levers 54 and 54A repectively undergo angular rotationcounterclockwise and clockwise about shafts 56 and 56A, against a forceexerted by a torsion spring 55, to be locked as will be describedhereinafter. Due to the above angular rotations of the main levers 54and 54A, the locking fingers 52 and 52A respectively rotate angularly soas to separate from each other towards the left and right. Accordingly,the locking fingers 52 and 52A enter within the cutouts 22, to lock thelid plate 12. Therefore, the lid plate 12 is locked and held at theinnermost part of the reproducing apparatus 30, in a state where the lidplate 12 is placed onto support fingers 57 and 57A.

Further, due to the operation of the lid plate connection releasingmechanism 35 and 35A, the connection between the lid plate 12 and thejacket 11 is released.

Hence, when the disc case 10 is pushed into the final position, theconnection of the lid plate 12 with respect to the jacket 11 isreleased, and the lid plate 12 becomes locked by the locking fingers 52and 52A. Thus, the disc 15 is in a state held by the upper and lowerholding fingers 50 and 51.

Next, the jacket 11 is pulled out in the direction of the arrow X2.Since the lid plate 12 and the disc 15 are respectively locked and heldas described above, only the jacket 11 moves in the direction of thearrow X2, leaving behind the lid plate 12 and the disc 15. Accompaniedby this operation in which the jacket 11 is pulled out from thereproducing apparatus 30, the lid plate 12 and the disc 15 arerelatively pulled out from the jacket 11. In a state where the jacket 11is separated from the enlarging mechanism 31 and is completely pulledout from the reproducing apparatus 30, the disc 15 is supportedhorizontally at a position directly above the turntable 32, by theholding fingers 50, 51 and a support structure 58 which is in a raisedposition.

When a play operation is performed, the disc 15 is lowered and placedonto the turntable 32, and is held. In addition, the disc 15 is rotatedclockwise together with the turntable 32.

Moreover, the carriage 47 moves in the direction of the arrow Y1 from arest position, to reproduce the information signal by the reproducingstylus which relatively scans over the recording surface of the disc 15.

Next, an operation in which the disc 15 is recovered from within thereproducing apparatus 30, will now be described.

Upon completion of the reproducing operation, the disc 15 is pushedupwards by the support structure 58. The disc 15 which is pushed up, isheld by the disc clamping mechanism 33.

Upon recovering of the disc 15, an empty jacket 11 is again insertedinto the reproducing apparatus 30 through the inserting opening 59, withthe opening of the jacket 11 first. Thus, the enlarging mechanism 31 ispushed by the jacket 11 and moves in the direction of the arrow X1, toenlarge the opening 23 of the jacket 11. As the jacket 11 is insertedtowards the direction of the arrow X1, the disc 15 is relativelyinserted into the jacket 11 through the opening 23 of the jacket 11.

When the jacket 11 is inserted into a final inserting position insidethe reproducing apparatus 30, the disc 15 becomes completely incasedwithin the jacket 11, and furthermore, the locked and held lid plate 12is relatively inserted within the opening of the jacket 11 to close theopening 23 of the jacket 11.

In addition, the lock with respect to the main levers 54 and 54A arereleased, and the main levers 54 and 54A rotationally return byfollowing the movement of the jacket 11 which is pulled out in thedirection of the arrow X2. Moreover, the lid plate 12 separates from thelid plate connection releasing mechanism 35 and 35A, and becomesconnected to the jacket 11.

Therefore, when the jacket 11 is pulled out in the direction of thearrow X2, the lid plate 12 then moves in the direction of the arrow X2together with the jacket 11, and the disc 15 is pushed by the lid plate12 and forcibly pushed out in the direction of the arrow X2 by theholding part. Accordingly, the disc 15 separates from the reproducingapparatus 30 to be recovered within the disc case 10.

Next, description will be given with respect to the construction andoperation of an operation control mechanism for controlling operationupon disc loading mode and disc separating and recovering mode, whichforms an essential part of the apparatus according to the presentinvention, with further reference to FIGS. 3 through 13.

The operation control mechanism 60 substantially comprises a rotatablearm 61, an L-shaped lock lever 62, a connecting lever 63, a rotatablearm member 64, and a locking arm 100.

The lower part of the rotatable arm 61 is supported by a shaft 66 whichis supported on a bottom 65a of an L-shaped bracket 65, and therotatable arm 61 is rotatable in a vertical plane. The L-shaped bracket65 is fixed on a chassis, and supports the disc clamping mechanism 33and the like. The arm 61 is urged to rotate in the direction of an arrowA1 by means of a coil spring 68 stretched between a pin 67 fixed on thebottom 65a and the arm 61, and is in an angularly rotated position wherethe free end of the arm 61 makes contact with an extention 69a of ashaft 69 for supporting the clamping arms. This shaft 69 extendsrightwards from the disc clamping mechanism 33, as viewed in FIGS. 2 and3.

The L-shaped lock lever 62 is pivotally supported about a pin 70 whichis embeddedly fixed to the bottom 65a, and is urged to rotate in thedirection of an arrow B, due to a coil spring 71. One arm part of theL-shaped lock lever 62 is formed with an L-shaped groove 62a, and a stepcam 62b is formed at a distal end of the same arm part. A pin 62 isembeddedly fixed to a distal end of the other arm part of the lever 62.A vertical pin 73 is engaged at a distal end of the main lever 54A,inside the above L-shaped groove 62a. The step cam 62b confronts avertical pin 74 embeddedly provided on a lower surface of a projectingpart 50a which is provided at the rear part side of the upper holdingarm 50. The main lever 54A is pivotally supported about the pin 56Awhich is embeddedly provided on the bracket bottom 65a, at the proximalend of this main lever 54A. The main lever 54A is urged to rotateangularly in the direction of an arrow C1 due to the rigid torsionspring 55. The contact finger 53A is provided on the main lever 54A.

One end of the connecting lever 63 is pivotally connected to a pin 75 ona lateral surface of the rotatable arm 61. A slot 63a is formed at theother end of this lever 63, and this slot 63a is engaged around a pin62c.

The rotatable arm member 64 is supported on a horizontal pin 76 which isembeddedly provided at the upper part of the rotatable arm 61, and isangularly rotatable in a vertical plane. A coil spring 77 is stretchedbetween the rotatable arm member 64 and the rear corner of the mainlever 54A. The rotatable arm member 64 has a projecting arm part 64aprojecting towards the turntable, and an engaging arm part 64bprojecting upwards. Furthermore, the arm member 64 undergoes rotation inaccordance with the angularly rotated position of the main lever 54A insuch a manner that the projecting arm part 64a enters into a moving pathof the jacket opening enlarging mechanism 31 upon a disc recoveringoperation.

The base end of the locking arm 100 is axially supported by theextension 69a. The locking arm 100 is provided between the rotatable arm61 and the rotatable arm member 64 and extends towards the turntable. Aclaw 100a is formed at the tip end of the locking arm 100. A hanging armpart 100b extending downwards past the horizontal pin 76 on the sidecloser to the turntable, is provided at the base end of the abovelocking arm 100. A coil spring 101 is stretched across the tip end ofthe hanging arm part 100b and a predetermined position on the main lever54A. Accordingly, the angularly rotated position of the locking arm 100is controlled by the angularly rotated position of the main lever 54Aand the position of the horizontal pin 76. The claw 100a can assume twoangularly rotated positions, that is, a position protruding into themoving path of the jacket opening enlarging mehcanism 31, and a positionreceded above this moving path. The locking arm 100 is longer than thelength of the projecting arm part 64a of the arm member 64 at least by adistance corresponding to the length of the upper beam 36 along thedirection of the arrow X1. As shown in FIG. 9A, in a state where theupper beam 36 pushes against the tip end of the projecting arm part 64aof the arm member 64, the claw 100a can assume a position exceeding theupper beam 36 to oppose the jacket 11.

A connection releasing claw 80 has a projection 80a which is pushed bythe lid plate 12, and a claw part 80b adapted to engage with theengaging arm 18. The claw 80 is pivotally supported on a pin 81. Thisclaw 80 can rotate within an angular range determined by a cutout 80cwhich is formed in the claw 80, and a pin 82.

Before loading the disc, the control mechanism 60 is in a stateindicated in FIGS. 3 and 4A. That is, the rotatable arm 61 is in a stateangularly rotated in the direction of the arrow A1. Since the main lever54A is in a state angularly rotated in the direction of the arrow C1,and a part 54Aawhere the spring 77 is hooked is at a position shiftedtowards the direction of the arrow X2, the spring 77 operates toangularly rotate the arm member 64 towards the direction of an arrow D1.Accordingly, the arm member 64 is in an angularly rotated position wherea cutout surface 64a-1 makes contact with the shaft extention 69a, andthe projecting arm part 64a is moved upwards and is at a height positiondisplaced upwards from the moving path for the jacket opening enlargingmechanism 31.

In addition, a part 54Ab of the main lever 54A where the spring 101 ishooked, is provided at a position closer towards the direction of thearrow X2. Hence, although the locking arm 100 is urged to rotateangularly towards the direction of the arrow D2 by the spring 101, thelocking arm 100 is at an angularly rotated position sloping upwardsbecause the hanging arm part 100b is stopped by the pin 76. The claw100a is thus at a position receded above the moving path of theenlarging mechanism 31.

Furthermore, in connection with the pin 73 positioned inside a grooveportion 62a-1 extending along the direction of the arrow X1 of theL-shaped groove 62a, the lock lever 62 is in an angularly rotatedposition indicated in FIGS. 3 and 12A.

Upon loading of the disc, the disc case 10 is inserted into thereproducing apparatus 30 in a state where the opening 24 of the jacket11 is enlarged by means of the enlarging mechanism 31. Referring to FIG.13, arrow lines 90a and 90b respectively indicate the disc case (orjacket) insertion locus and extraction locus during the disc loadingoperation. The upper beam 36 of the enlarging mechanism 31 positioned atthe front side along the disc case inserting direction, does not abutagainst the claw 100a of the locking arm 100 and the projecting arm part64a of the rotational arm member 64, and enters into a space below theprojecting arm part 64a. Therefore, the case 10 can be inserted,together with the enlarging mechanism 31, up to an innermost position P,and the control mechanism 60 and the connection releasing claw 80respectively assume states indicated in FIGS. 5A and 5B. That is, themain lever 54A rotates angularly towards the direction of the arrow C2against the spring 55, in a state where the contact finger 53A is pushedby the front of the lid plate 12. As the main lever 54A rotates,angularly the pin 73 moves along the groove 62a of the lock lever 62,towards the direction of the arrow X1. When the pin 73 reaches the endof the groove 62a, the lock lever 62 can then rotate angularly towardsthe direction of the arrow B1, by means of the spring 71, independent ofthe connecting lever 63. As the lock lever 62 rotates angularly, the pin73 enters into a groove portion 62a-2 extending along the direction ofthe arrow Y1 (referring to FIG. 12B), and the main lever 54A is lockedat a position rotated towards the direction of the arrow C2.Furthermore, due to the above described angular rotation of the locklever 62, the pin 74 moves in the relative relation with respect to thelock lever 62, and rides on a projection surface 62b-1 of the step cam62b. Accordingly, the lid plate 12 is locked and held by the lid platelocking and holding mechanisms 34 and 34A, and the disc 15 is heldbetween the upper and lower holding arms 50 and 51.

Furthermore, the rim portion 17 of the lid plate 12 pushes theprojection 80a, to angularly rotate the connection releasing claw 80, asindicated in FIG. 5B. Due to the angular rotation of the claw 80, theclaw part 80b forcibly displaces the engaging arm 18 inwards.Accordingly, the projection 19 of the arm 18 slips out from thecorresponding depression 20, to release the connection of the lid plate12 with respect to the jacket 11.

Thereafter, when the jacket 11 is pulled out towards the direction ofthe arrow X2, only the jacket 11 moves in the direction of the arrow X2,leaving behind the lid plate 12 and the disc 15 at the innermost part ofthe apparatus. Then, responsive to a predetermined operation, the disc12 is placed and loaded onto the turntable 32, and the disc reproducingoperation can then be started.

Upon loading the disc, an operator may perform a so-called doublepushing operation, in which the disc case is slightly pulled out andthen inserted again, after the disc case 10 has been inserted up to thefinal position. In the conventional apparatus, the second pushingoperation in this double pushing operation will release the locking ofthe main lever, and further, will release the clamping of the disc whichhas been clamped responsive to an initial pushing operation.Accordingly, the disc is adversely incased within the jacket and will bepulled out together with the jacket. However, in the above describedapparatus according to the present invention, as long as the extractingdistance of the disc case is short enough so that the projecting armpart 64a of the rotatable arm member 64 remains riding on the upper beam36, the mechanism which has been locked is not released but ismaintained in the locked state even responsive to the double pushingoperation. Accordingly, the disc 15 is positively loaded, and anerroneous disc loading does not take place.

Next, description will be given with respect to the operation of theabove described mechanism, upon the disc recovering operation.

The empty jacket insertion and extraction loci with respect to thereproducing apparatus upon this operation, are respectively indicated byarrow lines 91a and 91b in FIG. 13.

In a state before the disc recovering operation is performed, the mainlever 54A is at a position rotated angularly towards the direction ofthe arrow C2. The part 54Aa is at a position shifted towards thedirection of the arrow X1, and the extension of the center line of thecoil spring 77 passes a position deviated towards the left-hand sidewith respect to the pin 76. Accordingly, the rotatable arm member 65 isin a state where the member 65 is urged to rotate angularly towards thedirection of the arrow D2, as shown in FIG. 6A, to angularly rotate inthe same direction until the engaging arm part 64b makes contact withthe shaft extension 69a. The projecting arm part 64a is lowered to enterinto the moving path for the upper beam 36. The claw 100a of the lockingarm 100 is receded above the moving path of the enlarging mechanism.

Responsive to the insertion of the empty jacket 11 towards the directionof the arrow X1, the disc 15 is relatively inserted into the jacket 11,in a state where the opening 24 is opened by the enlarging mechanism 31.When the jacket 11 is inserted up to a position Q, the upper beam 36abutts against the projecting arm part 64a, and causes the controlmechanism 60 to operate responsive to a succeeding jacket insertionoperation. That is, the rotatable arm member 64 moves towards thedirection of the arrow X1, in a state where an upper edge surface 64a-2of the projecting arm part 64a is guided by the shaft extension 69a.Thus, the rotatable arm 61 undergoes angular rotation in the directionof the arrow A2 against the spring 68. Here, as the rotatable arm 61rotates angularly, the arm member 64 is imparted with a torque in thedirection of the arrow D1, that is, in the direction for causing thesurface 64a-2 to push against the shaft extension 69a. Accordingly, whenthe upper beam 36 pushes the arm member 64 backwards, the arm member 64will not unnecessarily rotate angularly towards the direction of thearrow D2. Furthermore, since a front edge surface 64a-3 of theprojecting arm part 64a assumes a step surface conforming to the shapeof the upper beam 36, the upper beam 36 is stably fit with the frontedge surface 64a-3, to assure stable operation for pushing the armmember backwards.

Due to the angular rotation of the rotatable arm 61 in the direction ofthe arrow A2, the connecting lever 63 shifts towards the direction ofthe arrow X1. The lock lever 62 rotates angularly against to the spring71, in a state where the pin 62c is engaged with the end part of theslot 63a.

Due to the initial angular rotation of the lock lever 62 to a positionindicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 12B (a first time instant),the pin 74 is set free from the engagement with the projection surface62b-1, and the locking of the clamping mechanism 33 is released. Whenthe lock lever 62 is further rotated (a second time instant), the pin 73slips out from the portion 62a-2 extending in the direction of the arrowY1 of the groove 62a, and hence, the locking of the lid plate lockingand holding mechanisms 34 and 34A is released.

Referring to FIG. 13, a position R indicates a position where the jacket11 has been inserted at the first time instant, and another position Sindicates a position where the jacket 11 has been inserted at the secondtime instant.

At the time instant when the jacket 11 passes the position S, the mainlevers 54 and 54A are returned to angularly rotate in the direction ofthe arrow C1 by a force exerted by the spring 55. As the main levers 54and 54A rotate angularly, the lid plate 12 is released from the lockingand holding operation by the mechanisms 34 and 34A, and is pushed outtowards the direction of the arrow X2 by the contact fingers 53 and 53Adue to the force of the spring 55. That is, in a stage where the jacket11 is inserted halfway, the lid plate 12 is released from the lockedstate and moves towards the jacket 11 to make connection with the jacket11.

The jacket 11 can be inserted further towards the direction of the arrowX1. However, the jacket inserting operation is limited at a finalinserting position T in FIG. 13, that is, at a stage where a rear edge61a of the rotatable arm 61 abutts against an upright part 65b of theL-shaped bracket 65, and the arm 61 is limited from further angularrotation, as indicated in FIG. 7A. This position T is located at aposition exceeding the position S and preceding the position T, andfurther preceding the position where the connection releasing claw 80 isoperated by the lid plate 12.

Accordingly, at the time instant when the empty jacket 11 is inserted upto the final inserting position T, the lid plate 12 is already connectedto the jacket 11, and further, the lid plate 12 is in a positionseparated from the connection releasing claw 80 as shown in FIGS. 8A and8B. The claw 100a of the locking arm 100 is in a raised state. Hence,the jacket 11 will not be stopped by the claw 100a, and the jacket canbe pulled out together with the lid plate 12 to effect recovery of thedisc.

Next, description will be given with respect to the operation and effectof the locking arm 100 upon loading and recovering of the disc, byreferring to FIGS. 9 through 11.

During a disc loading operation, the horizontal pin 67 does not move andremains at the initial position shown in FIG. 4A. Hence, as shown inFIGS. 4A, 5A, and 6A, the locking arm 100 is maintained at the originalangularly rotated position where the claw 100a is receded above themoving path of the upper beam 36. As shown in FIG. 6A, in the statewhere the disc is loaded, the part 54Ab is at the position towards thedirection of the arrow X1. Although the locking arm 100 is urged torotate angularly in the direction of the arrow D2, the locking arm 100is stopped by the horizontal pin 67 and maintained at the initialangularly rotated position.

Upon recovery of the disc, the upper beam 36 of the enlarging mechanism31 enters into a space below the locking arm 100 without hitting thelocking arm 100, as the empty jacket 11 is inserted into the reproducingapparatus. Here, because a sloping surface 100c which slopes downwardlyin the jacket inserting direction is formed at the tip end of thelocking arm 100, even if the tip end of the locking arm 100 hangs andpartially protrudes within the moving path of the upper beam 36 due toinconsistencies introduced upon assembly and the like, the upper beam 36will hit the sloping surface 100c to push the locking arm 100 upwards.Thus, even in this case, the upper beam 36 can enter into the spacebelow the locking arm 100.

When the empty jacket 11 is inserted into the innermost part of thereproducing apparatus while receiving therein the disc 15, the upperbeam 36 pushes the rotatable arm member 64 as shown in FIG. 9A. Thus,the rotatable arm 61 rotates angularly in the direction of the arrow A2,and the pin 76 moves in the direction of the arrow X1 to separate fromthe arm part 100b of the locking arm 100. The locking arm 100 rotatesangularly in the direction of the arrow D2, and the claw 100a exceedsthe position of the upper beam 36 to make contact with the upper half 13of the jacket 11. That is, the claw 100a is at a position capable ofentering within the moving path of the upper beam 36, to stop the upperbeam 36.

When the disc recovering operation is performed normally as describedabove, the main lever 54A rotates angularly in the direction of thearrow C1 to push the lid plate 12 backwards towards the jacket 11. Thus,the part 54Ab moves in the direction of the arrow X2, and the mechanism60 is put into a state shown in FIG. 8A. That is, the locking arm 100 ispulled by the spring 101 and rotates angularly in the direction of thearrow D1. In addition, the claw 100a rises to separate from the jacket11 and thus recedes from the moving path of the upper beam 36.Accordingly, the upper beam 36 moves below the claw 100a without beingstopped by the claw 100a, to enable smooth recovery of the disc.

Next, description will be given with respect to the operation in a casewhere the jacket is handled unusually upon recovery of the disc, byreferring to FIGS. 10 and 11. In this case, the empty jacket is notinserted into the final position T. Instead, the empty jacket isinserted into a position slightly exceeding the position S, and thejacket 11 is pulled out in an exceedingly fast manner before the lidplate 12 is pushed backwards.

When the empty jacket 11 is inserted into the position slightlyexceeding the position S as indicated by an arrow line 92a in FIG. 13,the lock with respect to the main lever 54A is released similarly as inthe above described case. The lid plate 12 thus begins to move towardsthe jacket 11. FIG. 10A shows the mechanism 60 in this state. In thisstate, the locking arm 100 is rotated angularly in the direction of thearrow D2, and the claw 100a makes contact with the jacket 11. Here, ifthe jacket 11 is pulled out in the direction of the arrow X2 at anexceedingly fast speed as indicated by an arrow line 92b in FIG. 13before the lid plate 12 connects to the jacket 11, the main lever 54Aand the arm member 64 cannot follow the rapid movement of the jacket 11and remain in the positions shown in FIG. 10A. The upper beam 36 movesso as to slip out of the position below the locking arm 100. However, asshown in FIG. 11A, because the locking arm 100 is still at the positionrotated angularly in the direction of the arrow D2, the upper beam 36 iscatched and stopped by the claw 100a of the locking arm 100 andprevented from moving in the direction of the arrow X2. Hence, even ifan attempt is made to pull out the jacket 11, the jacket 11 will beprevented from being pulled out by the above claw 100a. Therefore, thejacket 11 is prevented from being pulled out in a state where the lidplate 12 is not connected to the jacket, upon recovery of the disc.

The jacket 11 is prevented from being pulled out at a position where thejacket 11 completely slips out of the main lid body 16. That is, in thestate where the jacket 11 is prevented from being pulled out, thepositional relationship between the jacket 11 and the lid plate 12 issuch that overhang parts on both sides of the main lid body 16 arewithin the jacket 11. Hence, even when the lid plate 12 is released ofthe locking by the locking fingers 52 and 52A, the lid plate 12 stillremains partially engaged with the jacket 11 and is prevented fromfalling within the reproducing apparatus 30.

In addition, because the claw 100a of the locking arm 100 restricts themovement of upper beam 36 which is a metal plate member, the parts areprevented from deforming and breakdown is not easily introduced, even ifthe jacket is pulled with a large force. Furthermore, since the lockingarm 100 is provided in the vicinity of the arm member 64 whichdetermines the position S, the assembling operation and adjustment arefacilitated.

When the jacket 11 is prevented from being pulled out, the operatorstops pulling on the jacket 11, and first inserts the jacket 11 in thedirection of the arrow X1. Thereafter, the operator pulls on the jacket11 again. As the jacket 11 is inserted in the direction of the arrow X1from the position where the jacket is prevented from being pulled out,the jacket 11 is pushed by the contact finger 53A on the main lever 54Ato connect with the lid plate 12 which is pushed backwards in thedirection of the arrow X1. Due to the angular rotation of the main lever54A in the direction of the arrow C1, the part 54Ab moves in thedirection of the arrow X2. The locking lever 100 rotates angularly inthe direction of the arrow D1 as shown in FIG. 8A similarly as in theabove described case where the normal disc recovering operation isperformed, and the claw 100a rises to recede from the moving path of theupper beam 36. As a result, when the jacket 11 is pulled for the secondtime after the jacket 11 is inserted in the direction of the arrow X1,the upper beam 36 moves below the claw 100a. The lid plate 12 thusconnects to the jacket 11, and the jacket 11 is pulled out of thereproducing apparatus 30 in a state accommodating the disc 15 therein.Therefore, even when the above unusual operation is performed, the disccan be recovered positively without introducing undesirable accidents.

Moreover, since the connection releasing claw 80 is adapted to be pusheddirectly by the lid plate 12, this claw 80 can operate with a fineresponse characteristic.

Furthermore, the apparatus according to the present invention can beapplied in the same manner with respect to a disc case in which the lidunitarily comprises a lid part for closing the opening of the jacket anda loop fixed to the lid part, for encircling the disc.

Further, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, butvarious variations and modifications may be made without departing fromthe scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A rotary recording medium reproducing apparatusfor reproducing a rotary recording medium accommodated within a case,said case comprising a jacket provided with a space for accommodatingsaid rotary recording medium and an opening for allowing said rotaryrecording medium to go in and out of said jacket, and a lid memberinserted through said opening of said jacket for closing said opening ofsaid jacket, said rotary recording medium reproducing apparatuscomprising:lid member locking and holding means provided at an innermostpart of said reproducing apparatus, for locking and leaving said lidmember inside said reproducing apparatus when said case is inserted intosaid reproducing apparatus through an inserting opening providedthereat, and for releasing the lock with respect to said lid member whenan empty jacket is inserted into said reproducing apparatus; lid memberconnection releasing means for releasing connection of said lid memberwith respect to said jacket when said case is inserted into and thenpulled out from said reproducing apparatus, and for connecting said lidmember to said empty jacket when said jacket is inserted into and thenpulled out from said reproducing apparatus; lid member push-back meansfor pushing back said lid member released from locking in a directionapproaching said empty jacket which is inserted, interrelatedly with thelock releasing operation of said lid member locking and holding means;and jacket pull-out preventing means provided interrelatedly with saidlid member push-back means, for permitting said jacket to be pulled outwhen said lid member is pushed back to connect with said jacket, andpreventing said jacket from being pulled out in a state where said lidmember is not connected to said jacket.
 2. A reproducing apparatus asclaimed in claim 1 which further comprises a jacket opening enlargingmeans for enlarging said opening of said jacket upon insertion of saidcase or said empty jacket into said apparatus, capable of moving betweena position in the vicinity of said inserting opening and an innermostpart of said reproducing apparatus, and said jacket pull-out preventingmeans entering within a moving path of said jacket opening enlargingmeans when said empty jacket is inserted into a position exceeding aposition where said lid member locking and holding means is operated, tocatch and stop said jacket opening elarging means as said jacket ispulled out in the state where said lid member is not connected to saidjacket.
 3. A reproducing apparatus as claimed in claim 2 in which saidjacket pull-out preventing means comprises a rotatable locking armmember having a claw for catching and stopping said jacket openingenlarging means, said rotatable locking arm member being capable ofrotating angularly to enter within and recede from the moving path ofsaid jacket opening enlarging means, and a control mechanism forcontrolling the angularly rotated position of said rotatable locking armmember according to the operational state of said lid member push-backmeans, and said claw of said rotatable locking arm member is recededfrom said moving path in a state where said lid member is locked andheld by said lid member locking and holding means and in a state afterthe operation of said lid member push-back means is completed, andenters within said moving path in a state where said lid memberpush-back means is operating.
 4. A reproducing apparatus as claimed inclaim 3 in which said rotatable locking arm member is provided at aposition above the moving path of said jacket opening enlarging meansangularly rotatable in a vertical plane, and said claw makes contactwith the upper surface of said jacket and enters within the moving pathof said jacket opening enlarging means.
 5. A reproducing apparatus asclaimed in claim 3 in which said rotatable locking arm member isprovided at a position above the moving path of said jacket openingenlarging means angularly rotatable in a vertical plane, and the tip endof said rotatable locking arm member is shaped as a sloping surfacesloping downwards along the inserting direction of said jacket.
 6. Areproducing apparatus as claimed in claim 3 in which said claw isprovided at a predetermined position of said rotatable locking armmember so that said claw catches and stops said jacket opening enlargingmeans at a position before the entire lid member relatively slips out ofsaid jacket.